Ontario children’s hospitals are limiting surgeries and warning of long emergency room wait times amid a “triple threat” of respiratory illnesses that have forced pediatric intensive care units to operate beyond capacity. Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children said Friday it would limit surgeries to prioritize emergency procedures as the ICU operated at more than 127 per cent capacity for several days this week – with more than half of those patients on a respirator. Similarly, the ICU at McMaster Children’s Hospital was operating at 140 percent capacity on Friday, and ER wait times reached up to 13 hours at times. On Saturday, MCH began transferring surgical patients aged 16 and 17 to two regular hospitals in the area to relieve the strain. At the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, where a second ICU was recently created, administrators said they are dealing with twice as many patients as usual, with wait times approaching 11 hours Saturday morning. CHEO said it is contacting patients whose surgeries are affected. Children’s hospitals are being overwhelmed as they simultaneously deal with an early and fast-moving flu season, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 infections and the emergence of respiratory syncytial virus, doctors say. RSV is a common pediatric infection that may require hospitalization for vulnerable children, such as those with asthma. Return of seasonal flu, RSV and other viruses could spell disaster for older Canadians, experts say Medical professionals say the rise in respiratory infections is affecting hospitals already dealing with high patient numbers and staffing challenges due to sick and tired workers. “We’ve had problems in Canadian health care even in the summer months, where emergency departments across the country were closing due to staffing issues,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and physician at the University of Toronto Health Network. Parents like Ottawa resident Mahreen Kazi say the strain on the health care system has been frustrating. Mrs Kazi has been advised not to take her six-year-old son to hospital after he was diagnosed with a respiratory illness last week in order to ease pressure on children’s hospitals. When she asked a doctor for medication, she said she was told there was a shortage of amoxicillin for children, and her son was prescribed azithromycin. “We have to run to ask for the basics, and it’s tearing me apart,” said Ms Kazi, who said she, along with her husband and other son, were also sick. “Every time my child has a cough, every time he can’t sleep at night, it just frustrates me.” It’s not the first time she’s felt let down by Ontario’s health care system, she added. When the same six-year-old son fell ill earlier this year, Ms. Kazi said she tried to take him to CHEO, but ended up leaving without treatment after waiting for more than 16 hours. Now, she says, she makes sure her children are covered when they leave the house, adding that she will try anything if it means taking the pressure off hospitals so her son can get the care he needs, including a return to mask orders. The Provincial Health Director, Dr. Kieran Moore, reportedly urging Ontarians to continue wearing masks — though his update won’t come with a renewed mask mandate. Dr. Bogoch said there are other mechanisms the province can use to further multiply coverage besides the mandates, including making them more widely available in places of gathering such as sporting events and places of worship. “With good communication and strong community outreach and reducing barriers to coverage like vaccines, you’re going to see much better uptake,” he said. Anna Miller, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Ministry of Health, urged people to get flu and COVID-19 shots and said hospitals across the province are preparing for an outbreak they saw coming. “We are taking a team Ontario approach and have increased hospital capacity across the board, adding over 3,500 new intensive care, acute and post-acute hospital beds,” Ms. Miller said in a statement. Dr. Rose Zacharias, president of the Ontario Medical Association, called on all levels of government to streamline the licensing process for foreign-educated medical professionals already in Canada. He said staffing issues are preventing the medical system from increasing emergency capacity, and others in the field have already been calling for foreign-trained professionals to be used for months. Dr Zacharias also called on governments to reduce the documentation burden on doctors, who currently deal with two hours of administrative work for every hour of patient care. Finally, he said governments could create comprehensive ambulatory centers, which are stand-alone surgery centers that could focus on less acute surgeries such as hip, knee, cataract and hernia operations. “Physician burnout and health care team shortages can compromise patient care,” he said. “That is why we are committed to working with all levels of government and within the publicly funded healthcare system to implement some solutions to relieve the pressure.” With a report by The Canadian Press
